Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 16 congratulated Prime Minister elect Christopher Luxon for his party’s win in the New Zealand’s General election.
In a social media post, PM Modi said, “Heartiest congratulations to Prime Minister-elect @chrisluxonmp for his party’s win in the General Elections. Look forward to working together to further strengthen India-New Zealand ties.”
https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1713749739894870458?s=20
On Saturday, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins conceded his Labour Party had lost the general election and was not in a position to form a government, handing victory to his conservative opponent Christopher Luxon.
Luxon’s center-right National Party and preferred coalition partner ACT won a razor-thin electoral victory on Saturday (October 14), together securing 61 seats in a 121-seat parliament.
Luxon on Monday (October 16) said that while his party was waiting for special votes to be counted, they were working on building relationships with both ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First. “We are working very strongly to build relationships and also to work through arrangements with respective parties. We are going to do that confidentially,” he said.
While National and libertarian party ACT have the numbers to form a government on the current count, roughly 567,000 special votes, around 20% of the total, must still be counted. The official result is due on Nov. 3, and conservative parties have historically lost at least a seat with the final count.
Luxon, a protege of former prime minister John Key, said the process of transition between the two governments was under way but would not comment on current issues such as New Zealand’s response to the Israel’s intense bombardment of Gaza as they was the responsibility of the Labour government.
Christopher Luxon is a former conservative businessman. The 53-year-old is a relative newcomer to politics and former airline executive. The change in leadership comes after a six-year tenure by a liberal government, primarily led by Jacinda Ardern.